SimpleToolkit

SimpleToolkit is a .NET MAUI library of helpers and simple, easily customizable controls.

The library consists of three NuGet packages:

• SimpleToolkit.Core - set of simple .NET MAUI controls and helpers

  

• SimpleToolkit.SimpleShell - simplified implementation of .NET MAUI Shell

  

• SimpleToolkit.SimpleShell.Controls - collection of ready-to-use, navigation-related controls

  

I have split the content of this library into multiple NuGet packages because there may be people who want to use only the SimpleShell control, for example, and do not want to use other controls.

[!CAUTION] Long-term support is not guaranteed. However, this repository is released under the MIT license, so you can always fork the repository and build the packages yourself.

Samples

Here are some of my samples that were built using this library:

Marvelous .NET MAUI

Gadget Store App

Navbar Animation #1

Hamburger Menu App

[!TIP] Check out a list of all samples here.

Supported platforms

This library supports all these platforms:

• Android
• iOS/Mac Catalyst
• Windows (WinUI)

SimpleToolkit.Core

The SimpleToolkit.Core package is a set of simple .NET MAUI controls and helpers.

These are all the controls this package has to offer:

• Icon - control that allows you to display a tinted image
• ContentButton - button that can hold whatever content you want
• Popover - control that allows you to display custom popovers (flyouts) anchored to any control

In order to use the controls listed above, you need to call the UseSimpleToolkit() extension method in your MauiProgram.cs file:

builder.UseSimpleToolkit();

This package also contains some useful helpers. For example, there are helpers that allow you to force application content to be displayed behind the system bars (status and navigation bars) on Android and iOS.

See documentation for more information.

SimpleToolkit.SimpleShell

The SimpleToolkit.SimpleShell package provides you with a simplified implementation of .NET MAUI Shell that lets you easily create a custom navigation experience in your .NET MAUI applications. The implementation is simply called SimpleShell.

All SimpleShell is is just a set of containers for your application content with the ability to put the hosting area for pages wherever you want. This gives you the flexibility to add custom tab bars, navigation bars, flyouts, etc. to your Shell application.

Bear in mind that SimpleShell does not come with any navigation controls. SimpleShell just gives you the ability to use custom navigation controls along with the URI-based navigation and automatic navigation stack management.

[!IMPORTANT] Before you begin using SimpleShell, I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with the original .NET MAUI Shell - especially with the URI-based navigation, which works exactly the same as in SimpleShell. The SimpleShell class inherits from the Shell class.

In order to use SimpleShell, you need to call the UseSimpleShell() extension method in your MauiProgram.cs file:

builder.UseSimpleShell();

Why not use SimpleShell and use .NET MAUI Shell instead

• .NET MAUI Shell offers a platform-specific appearance.
• Platform-specific navigation controls that .NET MAUI Shell provides probably have better performance than controls composed of multiple .NET MAUI views.
• A SimpleShell-based application may not have as good accessibility in some scenarios due to the lack of platform-specific navigation controls. .NET MAUI Shell should be accessible out of the box since it uses platform-specific controls.
• Maybe I have implemented something wrong that has a negative impact on the performance, stability, accessibility, or something like that.

See documentation for more information.

SimpleToolkit.SimpleShell.Controls

SimpleToolkit.SimpleShell.Controls is a collection of ready-to-use, navigation-related controls (not only) for SimpleShell.

The package currently supports only two controls:

• ListPopover - popover containing a list of selectable text items
• TabBar

All controls can be styled using different design languages. These are currently supported:

• Material 3
• Cupertino
• Fluent (WinUI 3)

[!CAUTION] I am still not decided if I want to continue and how to develop the SimpleToolkit.SimpleShell.Controls package. The package API is likely to change in the future. For this reason, this package is still in preview and has poor documentation.

See documentation for more information.